Friends mourn 18-year-old Berkeley man who drowned in Barnegat Bay

Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerA biplane heads east as it flies over Barnegat Bay, crossing over Island Beach State Park and out over the ocean, in this 2010 file photo.

BERKELEY — Ryan Worrall was a free spirit who, friends say, kept them in stitches with his light-hearted pranks and acerbic commentary.

But now they’re trying to comprehend the loss of Worrall, a larger-than-life character from Berkeley Township who was found dead two days after graduating Wednesday from Central Regional High School.

"There’s just such a void now," Mike Tutela, one of Worrall’s best friends, said today. "It really just feels like half of me is gone."

Worrall, 18, was discovered face down in the Barnegat Bay by an off-duty state trooper late Friday afternoon. His body was brought to shore by members of the State Police Marine Division and identified thanks to a wallet in his pocket.

State Police spokesman Sgt. Stephen Jones said investigators believe Worrall and a friend took a canoe out into the water early Thursday morning after attending a graduation party.

"A few hundred yards off shore, the canoe started taking on water and overturned," Jones said. "Both young men tried to swim back to shore, but Mr. Worrall didn’t make it."

FacebookRyan Worrall, 18

Jones said that no charges have been filed against the man who was with Worrall.

Several of Worrall’s friends said he and two friends had taken a drive to the Seaside Heights boardwalk after the party, then returned to his neighborhood, which is near a tributary that leads to the bay.

"I have no idea what happened," said Tutela, who last saw Worrall at the party. Members of Worrall’s family did not immediately respond for comment.

An autopsy today by the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office determined Worrall’s cause of death was accidental drowning. Jones said results from a toxicology test could take four to six weeks. The death is being investigated by the State Police Major Crimes Unit and the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.

Worrall’s drowning death is the third in New Jersey this week.

On Thursday, 15-year-old Naisere Nelson of Neptune went missing in the Atlantic Ocean off Bradley Beach. The search for Nelson was called off Friday and he is presumed dead. Also on Friday, a 17-year-old Philadelphia girl drowned in the pool at the Hideaway Beach Campground in Middle Township, Cape May County, after competing with friends to see who could hold their breath the longest underwater.